Del Rosario: PH should bring the line of the South China Sea to UN

Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario said Friday the Philippine government should consider bringing its naval conflict against China to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Del Rosario said the Philippine government should seek assistance to force China to stick to its arbitral victory in the disputed waters.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague upheld Manila’s sovereign rights to its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), dismissing Beijing’s historic claim to assets in the South China Sea using its nine-dash line doctrine.

The decision, which Beijing refuses to acknowledge, was handed down at the beginning of the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Del Rosario stated that they need to take the danger of force from China to the fore. China claims big sections of the South China Sea and is ramping up its militarization operations in resource-rich waters. Other claimants, like Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, contest territorial claims.

The Philippine government lodged diplomatic protests against China on Wednesday over 2 incidents in disputed waters.

Manila protested the passage of Chinese warships through the Sibutu Strait in the southern part of the Philippines without previous clearance and the 113 Chinese ships swarming around the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island.